This was reported by Ukraine's Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov.

Ukraine signed the corresponding agreements with the European Union during the Ukraine — EU Defense Industry Forum.

What is known about EU grant funding

According to Fedorov, together with the European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, Ukraine signed two agreements.

They open access for Ukrainian defense companies to research and development (R&D) grants under the European Defence Fund (EDF), as well as to funding for production scale-up under the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).

Fedorov noted that this will allow Ukrainian companies to scale up their developments, attract grants, support startups, and implement joint projects with European partners.

Separately, under the EDIP program the Ukraine Support Instrument will operate with a budget of €300 mln.

Of this amount €260 mln will be directed to increasing the production capacities of the Ukrainian defense industry, and another €35.3 mln — to developing innovations through the BraveTech EU USI grant program.

According to the minister, within this program Brave1 will provide grants up to €200k for defense projects with a readiness level of TRL4 and above.

At the same time, grant funding can cover up to 100% of participants' costs.

Fedorov also said that the next step will be ratification of the signed agreements in the Verkhovna Rada. After that Ukrainian and European companies will be able to fully participate in the new grant programs.

As a reminder, the German defense concern Rheinmetall for the first time delivered to Ukraine artillery ammunition manufactured at the new Werk Niedersachsen plant in the town of Unterluss.

Read also: Fedorov is reforming the Ministry of Defense but faces resistance from generals — Economist

This was reported to AIN by Angel One Fund. 

This is the fund's 14th investment in 2.5 years of operation and its fourth — in defense technologies in 2026.

What is known about the deal

The size of the investment has not been disclosed. The fund only noted that it corresponds to their average investment check.

In March 2026 the fund's founder Ivan Petrenko told Forbes Ukraine in an interview that the average Angel One check ranges from $50,000 to $200,000.

The raised funds will be directed to the development of autonomy technologies, creation of radar solutions and scaling operational activities. At the same time, development of the Algiz-2 system is additionally financed through grants.

The first contact between Angel One Fund and Vigilant Works took place during one of the Brave1 cluster events, where Ukrainian defense-tech companies presented their developments to investors and partners.

«We invest in technologies that remove critical constraints on the battlefield. Vigilant Works is turning counter-drone response from a reactive process into an autonomous system — from target detection to interception. It is especially important to us that the team has already passed combat testing, is developing its own autonomy stack, and is building a product capable of scaling with the threat,» — commented CEO Angel One Fund Ivan Petrenko.

The fund also reported that details of the previous investment deal, closed in June 2026, are not being disclosed at this time.

More about Angel One Fund.

Angel One Fund — is a venture fund created at the Ukrainian Catholic University. 

It aims to comprehensively support Ukrainian startups, help implement their ideas and develop startup culture in Ukraine.

To scale promising projects, the fund provides seed capital at pre-seed and early stages.

Angel One's focus is on startups founded by Ukrainian founders and based on advanced technologies, deep innovations and protected intellectual property.

Among the companies the fund has invested in are Zeely, Haiqu, Mosqitter, GO TO-U, Clearly, SOC Prime, memoryOS and others.  

Recall that in March 2026, the venture fund Angel One raised approximately $3 million for the second fund. During 2026 the team plans to invest these funds in 12 Ukrainian startups.

The new fund will invest equally in civilian and Defence Tech projects.

More about Vigilant Works

Vigilant Works — is a Ukrainian DefenseTech startup specializing in the development of counter-UAV systems.

The company's main product is the interceptor system Algiz-1, which has already passed combat trials.

The team is currently working on a new version, Algiz-2, which is expected to reach speeds of over 600 km/h.

In addition, the startup is creating its own autonomous control technologies and is working on developing radar systems in Ukraine. The company was previously selected for the Brave1 / Ministry of Defense EU4UA program, implemented with support from BRDO.

Also read: For a check up to $200,000 Angel One typically seeks a 2–5% stake in the business. Quick interview with the fund's managing partner Ivan Petrenko

This is stated here on the Ukrainian company's website.

NewVision specializes in agentic assurance?ensuring the reliability of agentic AI, product development and intelligent managed services.

What is known about the deal

SoftServe says the acquisition of NewVision will expand the company's technological capabilities, particularly in automation, workflow construction and data work. 

The company will also strengthen its presence in India, where teams will support large international projects.

After the deal, more than 700 engineers will join SoftServe. The company notes this will help expand global presence and strengthen client support during the implementation of complex digital transformation projects.

«Together we will be able to offer clients broader capabilities, greater scale and help implement complex technology projects faster, while maintaining the partnership approach our teams are known for,» — said SoftServe CEO Harri Propper.

After the deal is completed, NewVision CEO Kapil Hodani, Chief Operating Officer Balan Ramasvami and the current management team will remain in their positions.

The company will continue to operate under the NewVision brand as a subsidiary of SoftServe.

More about NewVision

NewVision is an Indian IT company founded in 2016.

It works with clients in healthcare, financial services, energy and manufacturing.

Its offices are located in the Indian cities of Pune, Hyderabad and Bhopal, as well as in the USA.

More about SoftServe

SoftServe is a Ukrainian IT company that provides software development and consulting services.

The company’s main offices are located in Lviv and Austin (USA). The company works on more than 900 active projects for clients in North America, the EU and Asia.

SoftServe's clients include companies such as IBM, Cisco, Panasonic, Cloudera, Henry Schein, Spillman Technologies and others. SoftServe is a partner of Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, NVIDIA and other major technology companies.

Read also: €3.1M for scaling and development. Ukrainian-French fintech startup Aiffin raised investment

Waze reported this in the Waze blog.

Users will get tools to adapt routes to their habits, a dedicated motorcycle mode, and conversational location search.

Route personalization and 'less chatty' mode

Waze developers are implementing a personalized navigation system that will operate on Android and iOS worldwide.

Now the app will suggest routes not only based on current city traffic but also taking into account the driver's past trips. For example, if a user tends to choose highways instead of local streets with many stops, the service will show those options first. This feature can be turned off in settings.

Also globally available is the "less chatty" mode (less chatty mode). It minimizes the number and length of voice prompts so the driver can focus on music or podcasts. The app still notifies about critical hazards, turns, and lane changes, but it does so less frequently.

Dedicated motorcycle mode

For riders of two-wheeled vehicles, Waze is launching a motorcycle mode (motorcycle mode). The AI takes into account specific shortcuts and restrictions for motorcycles that can pass through narrow streets, and it also calculates accurate arrival times.

Additionally, the map will show sections dangerous for motorcyclists: potholes, speed bumps, raised crosswalks, the end of shoulders, and narrow bridges. The feature is populated in real time with the help of specialized map editors.

The mode is currently being rolled out in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines, with more countries to be added later.

More about the Gemini-based updates

Gemini technologies have expanded the capabilities of the Conversational Reporting feature. Previously drivers could report traffic jams by voice, and now, using natural language, they can propose map updates — for example, reporting road closures or outdated addresses.

The request is automatically sent to local map editors for verification. The feature is already available globally.

Additionally, the Gemini integration enables searching for destinations via a quick chat. Users can ask voice queries like "find an open coffee shop right now" or "find the nearest gas station with the lowest prices." The app returns a list of options, after which navigation can be started. 

What is Waze

Waze is a GPS navigation app for mobile devices and a social network for drivers.

It plots optimal routes in real time based on users' speeds and alerts about traffic jams, accidents, police checkpoints, and speed cameras.

Read also: Meta turned off an Instagram feature that allowed creating AI images based on public accounts

This was reported by The Verge.

The company did this after criticism from users.

More about Instagram's AI image-creation feature

Earlier, Meta introduced a feature that allowed generating images in Meta AI when a user tagged a public Instagram account. In that case, the artificial intelligence used that account's content as a basis to create a new image without the owner's separate permission.

The company said it wanted to give users a new creative tool while still leaving them the ability to control the use of their public content.

The Verge writes that after the launch the feature faced criticism from users. In particular, the director of strategy at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation in the U.S., Heili Maknamara, said that such a feature could facilitate fraud and sexual extortion using fake images.

According to her, shifting the responsibility for opting out of the feature onto users themselves was unacceptable.

Meta said it took the feedback into account and fully disabled the tool. Previously, users could only opt out of having their content used via their account settings.

The company added that the feature is no longer available, and the corresponding changes have already been made to the description of the new Muse Image AI image-generation model?Muse Image — is a tool from Meta designed to generate and edit images from text descriptions. It is integrated directly into Meta AI, Instagram, and WhatsApp..

Recall that Google started showing users whether an ad was created or edited using artificial intelligence.

Google will automatically add this label to ads if they were created using the company's generative tools.

Also read: Cloudflare will automatically block mixed web crawlers that collect data for AI companies

Baryon is an investment fund founded in late 2025 in Bratislava. It plans to invest in Eastern European and Ukrainian defense tech startups. One of the fund's latest investments was in Airvolute, a European deep tech company.

AIN spoke with Line Rindvig about her move to Baryon Fund, her plans in the new position, and the changes unfolding in the Ukrainian defense market.

What prompted your transition from Defence Builder to Baryon Fund? Why did you decide to shift from operational work with startups to venture capital investments?

The move from Defence Builder to Baryon Fund is a natural next step after the close of Batch 3.0. 

Defence Builder is in a strong position, with new partnerships across Europe and Ukraine, close collaboration with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, governments relations and NATO partners.

I want to focus where I can create the most impact: helping Ukrainian, Central and Eastern European and Nordic defence companies scale beyond the early stage. At Baryon Fund, I can help strengthen both companies and the wider European defence ecosystem while continuing to support Ukraine. 

Why Baryon Fund in particular?

Baryon is one of Europe's emerging defence investment funds that combines investment expertise with a sense of responsibility. The companies we back become part of Europe's — and therefore Ukraine's — ability to defend itself.

These investments ultimately contribute to the security of all of us as citizens.

Beyond that, the combined experience of the 3 founders; Martin Valovsky, Michal Simko & Róbert Vass is to me exceptional, and equally important is who they are as people. I’ve observed their work inside of Ukraine this past year, and I see how they support founders — even if they haven’t invested into the companies — yet. 

Read also: New Investor in Ukrainian Defense Tech: What is Known About the Baryon Fund, Whose Advisors Include Former Defense Minister Reznikov

What will be your key responsibilities as Chief Strategy & Defence Investment Officer?

My role as Chief Strategy & Defence Investment Officer is to shape Baryon’s strategy, support our portfolio companies beyond capital, and strengthen our partnerships across Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and the Nordics.

It’s about directing capital to where defence capability is being built and helping companies access the networks, partners, and opportunities they need to scale.

Baryon has built a strong position on the Eastern Flank, particularly in Ukraine. One of my first priorities will be to strengthen our strategic position in the Nordics, where defence investment, industrial capacity, and innovation are accelerating rapidly.

We focus on air defence and the capabilities needed to protect airspace against modern threats. 

That includes integrated air defence systems, sensor fusion and radar networks, C2, software, counter-UAS and counter missile systems, electronic warfare, and interceptor technologies. 

More broadly, we are focused on layered air defence architecture.

Read also: Baryon Investment Fund Invested in Slovak Airvolute, Which Develops Technological Solutions for Drones

What is the main lesson you learned at Defence Builder that you are bringing with you to this new role?

The main lesson from Defence Builder is understanding what fast adaptation means in practice, especially in wartime.

In Ukraine, capabilities are developed, adjusted, and scaled in real time under enormous pressure, at a pace very different from most European countries still operating in peacetime structures.

What role will Ukrainian defense companies play in the fund's strategy?

By now, it almost sounds like a cliché, but Ukraine is building some of the world's most advanced defence technologies, particularly in areas such as air defence, which is a key focus for us. And while Baryon also invests across Europe — from Norway to Bulgaria — Ukraine is an important part of that strategy because the pace of innovation and real-world validation is unlike anywhere else.

In general, we look for technologies that have been tested in operational environments, and many of the best examples are coming out of Ukraine.

Our strategy is that beyond investing, we work closely with e.g. Ukrainian founders, engineers, the military, and government to understand how the technologies perform in practice. We then help our portfolio companies scale them by connecting them with industrial partners, customers, governments across Europe, while supporting production, procurement, and commercial growth too.

What share of the future portfolio could Ukrainian startups potentially account for? 

It's too early to put a percentage on it. Many defence companies are international by design, so we may not always invest directly in a Ukrainian entity, even if the founders, engineering teams, and technologies are rooted in Ukraine. 

Baryon spends a lot of time on the ground in Ukraine identifying the most promising solutions, so innovation from Ukraine will naturally be an important part of our pipeline, yes, but geography isn't the deciding factor.

Are you already in talks with any Ukrainian companies? If so, which tech sectors/domains are we talking about? 

Maybe. You'll have to keep an eye on Baryon Fund's LinkedIn over the coming months.

You mentioned that the challenge is no longer about discovering Ukrainian innovations, but rather about scaling them. What is currently the biggest bottleneck to scaling? 

Ukrainian defence companies are extremely fast at developing and fielding new capabilities but the challenge comes after that; moving from rapid, flexible production into stable, repeatable industrial output.

That requires scaling manufacturing processes, supply chains, and production planning in a way that is harder to sustain under constant operational pressure.

What is the most critical shortage right now — capital, manufacturing capacity, or government contracts?

The most critical shortage is not innovation, but the system around it, primarily working capital and predictable demand through long-term procurement.

Companies can build and scale quickly, but they need upfront financing and clearer procurement visibility to commit to larger production runs.

This is also why the recent steps towards opening a controlled export framework is important. It creates additional routes for revenue and international partnerships, helping companies reinvest into capacity while still prioritising Ukraine’s defence needs.

As a reminder, on July 1, 2026, the Ukrainian government approved the first mechanism for exporting Ukrainian weapons. Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov stated that a clear procedure had been established for this purpose. It sets unified rules for the state, manufacturers, and partners.

The mechanism will work for the partner countries of the Drone Deal program. They will be able to purchase Ukrainian weaponry and technologies, and work directly with Ukrainian manufacturers.

You are calling for LPs and family offices to join. Does this mean the fund is opening a new capital-raising round? 

Baryon is still a young fund, and we are continuing to welcome a limited number of new LPs and family office partners who want to be part of the mission.

It is less about an open raise and more about building a focused investor base aligned with the long-term nature of defence investing in Europe and Ukraine.

Do you see more interest in Ukrainian defense tech now compared to, say, a year ago? 

Yes, there is clearly more interest in Ukrainian defence tech today compared to a year ago. That interest is also becoming more structured.

In the early phase, attention was driven largely by urgency and wartime need. Today, it is increasingly about capability: proven battlefield performance, rapid iteration cycles, and technologies that can be integrated into broader European defence systems. 

We are also seeing more engagement from European governments, defence primes, and institutional investors, particularly as the focus shifts toward scaling production capacity as seen with Zbroya / Built with Ukraine.

In your opinion, what percentage of defense startups currently seeking investment actually stand a chance of becoming successful companies? What should they prepare for on this journey?

I don’t have data on how many startups become successful companies. But defence startups need to understand that investment is not only about capital. The right investor can be a strategic partner, opening doors, providing market access, supporting scaling, and helping navigate the complexity of defence markets.

To succeed, companies need more than strong technology. They need the ability to scale production and build reliable teams. A strong team is key for almost all investores.

Is it realistic to talk about exits in defense tech today, or is it still a long-term play?

Exits are possible, but the priority is building strong companies with proven technology and strategic value. Defence tech is still a long-term play due to complex procurement cycles, but I have seen a few minor exits over the past few months. 

How do you evaluate the potential of Ukrainian defense companies to become global players after the war?

• Proven technology that has been repeatedly tested in real conditions
• The ability to scale production beyond wartime needs
• Access to international customers, partners, and capital

Read also: “This year, we plan to sign six joint production agreements.” A quick interview with Airlogix CMO Viktor Lokotkov

The company told AIN about it.

The product is a continuation of the platform development based on Coda, which the company acquired in 2025.

More about the new tool

One of the main additions is Docs AI — an AI assistant that can generate text, create tables, work with comments, analyze information from other documents, and track task completion. Documents also support tables, formulas, automations, and integrations with other services.

Photo: Superhuman

The company also introduced AI Views, which is currently available in closed beta. The tool allows creating interfaces and apps based on text descriptions and data from tables or connected services, including Jira and Salesforce.

In addition, the product added AI blocks and AI columns that automatically generate summaries, conclusions, and populate tables according to specified instructions. 

Other innovations include integration via MCP with ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor and other AI clients, new apps for macOS, iOS and Android, and a Table Pages mode for working with large sets of structured data.

In terms of functionality, the service is similar to airSlate and comparable platforms for automating document workflows and business processes. Both solutions allow teams to collaboratively edit documents, maintain interactive tables, set up automatic data population, and more.

More about Superhuman

Superhuman — is an AI productivity platform that combines the writing assistant Grammarly, the workspace Coda, the mail client Mail and the AI assistant Superhuman Go.

According to the company, its products are used by more than 40 million people, 50,000 organizations and 3,000 educational institutions worldwide.

Recall that Superhuman, which develops an AI platform to boost productivity, announced its intention to acquire the GPTZero service for detecting AI-generated content.

Read also: Google uses files uploaded by users from Search to train AI

Engadget reports.

The new feature is enabled for all users by default.

What data the company collects

According to Engadget, the update covers a wide range of content that users interact with across the company's search services. This list includes images, files, as well as audio and video recordings.

The publication notes that:

• if a user uploads a photo to Google Lens for visual search, the company may use it to train models;
• a similar approach applies to audio recordings that accompany Google voice search;
• any files uploaded to the Google Translate service are also subject to collection.

These changes apply exclusively to products directly related to the Search system. Users' personal files stored in Google Photos are not subject to this data collection.

How to disable data collection

Because the media collection feature is enabled automatically for every profile, users who wish to opt out must change the settings themselves.

To disable data collection, you need to:

1. Go to the special Search Services History page and uncheck the «Save Media» option.
2. Go to the Search Services Personalization page and ensure that the system is not saving any information.

In addition, users can disable the display of results from the AI Overview features.

Remember that Cloudflare will change its policy on webcrawlers that both index sites for search engines and are used to train or run artificial intelligence models.

The hosting platform will block such webcrawlers starting in September this year. The company aims to return control over the use of site content to site owners.

Also read: The Ministry of Digital Transformation is preparing an AI law. How is AI currently regulated in Ukraine?

This is reported by Engadget.

The spacecraft has already powered on and over the coming weeks will undergo technical checks of its propulsion, sensors and navigation systems.

Details about the launch

The launch took place on July 3 from the Marshall Islands after several delays. Ground teams have already established contact with the robotic spacecraft LINK.

According to the publication, the launch used an unusual air-launch scheme:

• the LINK spacecraft was mounted on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket;
• the rocket itself was attached under the fuselage of a Stargazer aircraft that took off from Kwajalein Atoll;
• at an altitude of about 40,000 feet (roughly 12 km) the plane released the rocket, which after a few seconds of free fall ignited its motors and sent LINK into space.

Establishing communication was the mission’s top priority.

LINK is now powered on, and over the next several weeks specialists from Katalyst Space will test its navigation systems, sensors and engines. After verifying the spacecraft’s functionality, it will head directly to the Swift observatory for inspection.

How the telescope will be rescued

LINK will approach the telescope, capture it using three robotic arms, dock with it and begin towing it upward.

The end goal is to reach an orbit about 370 miles high.

The entire raising process will take between 10 and 12 weeks. This will extend the observatory’s life by roughly a decade. Without this intervention the telescope would fall from orbit by the end of this year.

Why the telescope is falling

The Swift observatory was launched back in 2004. It was originally designed for only a two-year mission, but due to its successful operation it has repeatedly been kept in service.

Recently the telescope has been losing altitude faster due to increased drag in the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. This was driven by strong solar storms that expanded the planet’s atmosphere and increased its effect on satellites in low orbit.

If nothing is done, Swift will re-enter the atmosphere and burn up.

Why NASA decided to save it

Despite its age, the telescope remains a unique tool for astronomers, writes Space.

Swift specializes in finding gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the Universe that occur during the deaths of massive stars or the mergers of neutron stars. Such events can last only a few seconds, so studying them requires a very rapid response.

Where the Hubble telescope can take up to two days to repoint to a new target, Swift does it in a matter of minutes. At NASA they call the telescope the «first responder» among space observatories.

Recall that NASA will spend $30 million on this mission. 

Read also: NASA is testing a new Mars rover that can move faster and lift its wheels to overcome obstacles

This is stated in a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, reports Forbes.

On July 2 the court published a preliminary injunction concerning ten companies: Universe Group, Obrio and AMO. The decision also affects Genesis co‑founders Volodymyr Mnoholetniy, Vasyl Ulyanov and Stamatis Skianis.

They, Forbes writes, did not appear in court. The decision is an extension of the temporary injunction that was issued on June 4.

Earlier, on June 30, five legal entities of Universe Group, Obrio and AMO, and other defendants in the case — Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olha Harbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanytsia and Viktoriia Savchuk — voluntarily agreed to similar restrictions.

FTC vs Genesis

On June 2, 2026 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Genesis Tech in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. On June 17, 2026 the FTC published an official press release about it.

The FTC described Genesis as a group of companies that since 2020 has operated "a portfolio of deceptive subscription schemes through a network of companies registered in Cyprus and those operating in Ukraine."

As of June 8, 2026, PayPal informed the FTC that it had frozen about $8 million in accounts related to the defendants. On June 9, 2026, JP Morgan Chase froze roughly $2 million in defendants' assets.

According to the federal electronic court records, the following actions are scheduled in the case:

• August 25, 2026. Written submissions. Both parties must submit a written proposal setting out their "road map" (case plan) — the evidence disclosure schedule, number of witnesses, and expected trial duration.
• September 1, 2026. Initial case management conference. A meeting with the judge (usually by phone or video) to finalize the official schedule and deadlines for the next 6–12 months.

Consequences for Genesis

The typical trajectory in such cases is a settlement, AIN was told by a source familiar with the situation in the market. "Adobe, Amazon, Shutterstock and others followed a similar path. And they all continued operating."

The timing for resolving the dispute, the interlocutor continued, is hard to predict in such cases, but it could take about six months.

However, it is unclear whether that time will be sufficient to complete all procedures. This view is also expressed by lawyer and partner at Axon Partners Oksana Zadniprovska.

"A court decision can come within months or within years, because many factors influence it, including the willingness to negotiate with the FTC," says Oksana Zadniprovska.

Read more: "Could be months or years, depending on the willingness to negotiate with the FTC." What awaits Genesis, which is suspected of deceptive subscription schemes

This is reported by Engadget.

The hosting platform will block such web crawlers starting in September this year. The company wants to give site owners back control over the use of their content.

What is known about the new rules 

Previously Cloudflare already allowed site owners, if they wished, to prohibit data collection for AI chatbots.

Now that approach will become the default for new customers and new sites of existing users.

Beginning September 15, 2026, new Cloudflare customers and new sites of existing users will automatically receive settings that allow indexing for search engines but block the use of pages with advertising for training AI models and operating agents.

Mixed web crawlers that do not provide site owners with the ability to separately control the use of content for artificial intelligence will also be blocked.

Free-tier users will also be switched to these settings unless they opt out before the new policy takes effect.

Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Mettyu Prins said that because most internet traffic is no longer human, the company must move faster to create a sustainable ecosystem. The new tools are intended to encourage operators of mixed bots to clearly separate traditional search functions from model training.

Launch of Pay Per Use monetization 

As part of the update, Cloudflare is also relaunching the Pay Per Crawl feature introduced in 2025 (which allowed AI bots to be unblocked only if a scraping fee was paid).

The updated tool is called Pay Per Use. Now payments to site owners will be made not for the mere fact of a page being crawled, but when their content appears in AI chatbot responses. 

As TechCrunch notes, Cloudflare's new policy is also indirectly aimed at Google, since that company has access to roughly twice the amount of information as other AI firms.

The company bot — Googlebot — both indexes pages for search results and collects data to train Gemini and power other AI features.

Although Google allows sites to disable the separate Google-Extended crawler (so data won't be used for model training), publishers cannot consent to appearing in AI Mode results without their content being used to train AI.

Cloudflare's new policy is intended to force companies to change that practice.

Remember that Cloudflare is cutting more than 1,100 employees worldwide, which is one fifth of its staff. That decision is related to the company's shift to an AI-first operating model.

Read also: Used material without permission to train AI. Nearly 400 U.S. newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft

TechCrunch reports on this.

The launch took place without an official announcement, which may be an informal start to an experimental phase.

More about Meta's new app

Pocket is positioned as a "creative platform for creating and sharing gizmos" (gizmos) — the name given to the interactive elements created within the system.

Screenshots from the Pocket app

In addition to generation tools, the app includes a feed that allows browsing and playing projects by other users.

Screenshots from the Pocket app

The arrival of Pocket was the result of Meta's acquisition earlier this year of the team behind the gaming platform Gizmo. 

The publication writes that the official release of Pocket on the App Store and Google Play occurred a few days earlier — June 29, 2026. Due to the product's novelty, the exact number of downloads is currently unknown. 

According to TechCrunch, the launch of Pocket is part of Meta's broader strategy to roll out AI creativity tools at scale. Earlier the tech giant released the Meta AI image-creation tool and the AI video generator Vibes.

Recall that at the end of June Facebook updated the Creator Studio tool and turned it into a standalone app with a built-in AI assistant for content creators. The new app is intended to help creators grow their audience on Facebook and manage content.

Read also: Threads reached 500 million monthly active users. Because of this, Meta introduced new features in the app

This is reported by the Financial Times.

The company's CEO Sem Altman believes this could be a way to distribute the economic benefits of artificial intelligence development among the public.

What is known about the distribution of shares

Sem Altman raised the issue during earlier discussions with the Trump administration.

The idea is that the US government would receive 5% of OpenAI's shares, and a similar approach could be applied by other American companies developing AI systems.

According to the FT, OpenAI is proposing a model similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund — the Alaska state sovereign fund that invests oil revenues and pays dividends to the state government and its residents.

OpenAI and Anthropic have previously raised the idea of creating public or sovereign funds to distribute company stakes among citizens.

In particular, in April OpenAI proposed creating a "public welfare fund" that would give all citizens a share in the economic growth associated with artificial intelligence.

OpenAI declined to comment on the talks.

More about OpenAI's IPO

On June 9, 2026, OpenAI filed a confidential application to conduct an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In the filing the company said it had not yet decided on the timing of an IPO. It added that there are currently tasks that are easier to carry out as a private company, but submitting the documents leaves open the possibility of going public more quickly if appropriate.

The company also plans to hold a tender offer for employees that would allow them to sell some shares at the latest company valuation.

According to CNBC, OpenAI's most recent valuation was $852 billion after fundraising.

OpenAI is working on IPO preparations with investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Read also: Used materials without permission to train AI. Nearly 400 U.S. newspapers have sued OpenAI and Microsoft

This was announced by Sid Shuman, Senior Director of Content Communications at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

All subsequent releases will be digital-only on the PlayStation Store and through retail networks.

Why the shift away from discs

The company explained the decision as a response to changing consumer preferences and a broader entertainment industry trend away from physical media toward digital content.

Starting in January 2028, all new games for PlayStation consoles will be released only in digital format. They will be available for purchase via the PlayStation Store or through retail networks that will sell digital versions.

Sony emphasized that the change will not affect games already released or those that will be released on physical discs before January 2028. 

The company also added that this move will allow it to adapt to changing user behavior, as digital versions of games are significantly more popular than physical discs.

Recall that in March the corporation Sony Group abandoned plans to release its major PlayStation 5 games on PC.

After six years of multiplatform releases, the game developer plans to change strategy and return to console exclusivity.

Read also: Sony may postpone the release of PlayStation 6 until 2029 due to a memory shortage

The company announced this.

Both solutions are already available in Google AI Studio, the Gemini API and the company's enterprise platforms, and are also integrated into the ecosystem's consumer services.

Details on Nano Banana 2 Lite

Nano Banana 2 Lite has become the fastest and most cost-effective model in the Nano Banana line.

According to Google, it is intended for rapid generation of a large number of images and can create them in about four seconds. The cost of using the model is $0.034 per 1000-pixel image.

The company recommends Nano Banana 2 Lite as a replacement for the previous Nano Banana model (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image). 

In addition to developer platforms, Nano Banana 2 Lite will also be available in Google Search's AI Mode, the Gemini app, NotebookLM, Google Photos, Stitch, Google Flow and Google Ads.

Details on Gemini Omni Flash

Google also opened access to Gemini Omni Flash — a model for generating and editing videos.

It supports creating videos from text, images and video clips, and also allows editing clips using text and voice commands.

The model supports multimodal requests, uses Gemini's knowledge to construct scenes and can synchronize text elements with actions in the video. The generation cost is $0.10 per second of finished video.

Currently Gemini Omni Flash supports creating videos up to 10 seconds long. Longer clips are expected to appear later.

The company adds that the models can be used together: generate an image with Nano Banana 2 Lite and then pass it to Gemini Omni Flash to create an animated video. 

Recall that the U.S. government lifted export controls on Anthropic's newest AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The company will gradually restore access to the models for users worldwide starting July 1.

Read also: Gemini co-lead Noam Shazir moves from Google to OpenAI

The company announced this.

Anthropic will gradually restore access to the models for users worldwide starting July 1.

How access to the models will be restored

Claude Fable 5

• Will be available from Wednesday, July 1, to users worldwide on the Claude.ai, Claude Platform, Claude Code and Claude Cowork platforms.
• Through July 7, users on Pro, Max, Team and some Enterprise plans will be able to use Fable 5 up to 50% of their weekly limits, after which the model will switch to a paid credits system.
• Access via the AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Foundry clouds will be restored soon, the company says.

Claude Mythos 5

• Anthropic has already restored access to this model for a select list of organizations in the U.S.
• Developers are currently coordinating with the government to expand access to other domestic and international partners.

“We appreciate our users' patience and everyone who worked with us on redeploying the models,” the company said.

What came before

On June 12, 2026, Anthropic disabled its most powerful AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. 

The reason was a U.S. government export-control directive requiring that access to the products be closed to all foreign nationals, whether they are inside the U.S. or abroad, including foreign employees of Anthropic.

Because the government decision required immediate compliance and developers did not have a reliable tool to verify users' nationality in real time, the company temporarily turned off Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for everyone.

Read also: Anthropic introduced an AI teammate for teams in Slack, Claude Tag. What it can do and how to connect it?

Variety reports this.

The film about Michael Jackson surpassed the previous record-holder among films about real people — Christopher Nolan’s historical drama “Oppenheimer,” which held the lead with $975 million.

More on the box office

Since its April 2026 release, the film has earned $607.2 million internationally and $370.2 million at the U.S. box office.

The film’s opening was record-breaking. On its first weekend the film earned $97 million in the U.S. and $217 million worldwide. According to Variety, thanks to audience word-of-mouth and repeat viewings, “Michael” maintained strong box office momentum even during a competitive summer season.

Previously the film had already become the highest-grossing musical biopic, surpassing the 2018 film about Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($911 million).

In addition, “Michael” became the most successful release in Lionsgate’s history, overtaking the 2013 film “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” ($865 million).

What is known about the film “Michael”

Director Antoine Fuqua presents the performer’s journey from his time in the Jackson 5 to his status as the King of Pop.

The lead role was played by the singer’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson. Michael’s parents, Joe and Katherine, were portrayed by Colman Domingo and Nia Long.

The film is being distributed by Lionsgate in the U.S. and by Universal internationally.

Film critics have raised objections to how the filmmakers portrayed Jackson’s biography. They note that the film offers a softened version of his life, since the creators completely cut out the accusations of sexual abuse of minors that were made against the singer in the later stages of his career.

According to Variety, the studio is considering making at least one more film about Michael Jackson’s life.

Recall that the animated film “Toy Story 5” opened in theaters with $160 million in North America.

It is the best box-office opening of the year in U.S. cinemas and the most successful debut in the history of the “Toy Story” franchise.

Also read: Universal and DreamWorks will release a standalone film about the Donkey from “Shrek”

BlaBlaCar said this in a press release that is available to AIN.

This is the company's largest international expansion in the past 10 years. The platform's global presence will grow to 41 countries. For such a rapid launch the company used AI, which sped up localization of the service and scaling of operational activities. 

“Our model works because it reflects current economic realities. Just last year our drivers saved more than €568 million on travel costs. By expanding into 20 new markets, we are opening up substantial, previously unavailable saving opportunities to millions of travelers,” — commented Nicolas Brusson, CEO and co‑founder of BlaBlaCar.

New markets for BlaBlaCar

The expansion decision covers four geographic regions:

• Europe. The markets of Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia.
• Latin America. After 10 years operating in Brazil, the company is now expanding its presence into neighboring countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
• Southeast Asia. Markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• North Africa. The company is entering the African continent for the first time, starting with Morocco.

More about BlaBlaCar

BlaBlaCar — a ridesharing platform founded in France in 2006. In 2014 BlaBlaCar entered the Ukrainian market by acquiring the Ukrainian ridesharing service Podorozhniki.com. After that deal the platform officially started operating in Ukraine.

Later the company acquired the platform Busfor, then the largest service for searching and purchasing bus tickets in Ukraine and countries of Central and Eastern Europe. 

In January 2025 BlaBlaCar completed the deal and acquired the Turkish bus service Obilet.

Recall, in March 2026 the company appointed a new CEO for Central and Eastern Europe. He became Roman Miroshnichenko, who previously was responsible for the platform's business development in Ukraine.

In the new role he is responsible for business development across eight countries: Ukraine, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia.

Read also: Uklon started testing remote-operated taxis in Ukraine. How will it work? AIN found out the details

This was reported by Reuters.

The company began releasing them earlier than major operating system updates due to the rise in cyber risks associated with artificial intelligence.

Why Apple is changing its release schedule

Apple explains that artificial intelligence has significantly accelerated the development of malicious hacking tools.

Because of this, the company had to adapt and shorten the time between discovering a problem, publicly announcing it, and the protective patch reaching users' devices.

Previously Apple accumulated security fixes and released them together with major operating system updates.

How updates will be released now

Apple usually releases patches when moving from one iOS version to the next (for example, from the current 26.5 to the planned 26.6).

Between these releases, developers and testers usually check the upcoming version to eliminate any technical glitches and inaccuracies. The only exception was when cybersecurity specialists detected a hacking campaign that exploited a previously unknown system vulnerability.

Now, instead of waiting for the full 26.6 release, Apple is making a new round of security updates available to all users immediately, ahead of the broader software package.

Recall that Apple raised prices on a number of its devices, including the MacBook and iPad. 

The company explained that they can no longer absorb the rising cost of components, primarily memory chips and storage drives, which have become more expensive due to the AI boom.

The CEO of «АСБІС-Україна», Ivan Pavlik, told AIN in a comment that many hardware and electronics manufacturers have already revised their prices.

According to him, there will be a not very long period between Apple's announced price revision and the updating of prices in Ukraine.

Also read: Apple removed the apps VK, «Одноклассники» and Mail.ru from the App Store

This was announced by congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.

UDD is investing $18.4 million in the project. The factory, which is expected to create at least 300 new jobs, will be located in the town of Holland (Ohio).

What is known about F-Drones' new US production

The facility will handle assembly and manufacture of FPV drones and other unmanned systems, as well as their testing, after-sales support, personnel training, software and hardware integration, and localization of the production chain in the US.

The decision to launch production was announced after UDD received a contract from the Pentagon under the US Drone Dominance Program?The program aims to massively scale up drone production for the US military.. 

F-Drones said that UDD became the first Ukrainian drone manufacturer to receive permission from the government of Ukraine to export drones to the US military. The company's next step is transferring the technologies for producing these drones directly in the US.

According to F-Drones' CEO Stas Khutor, production in the US should enable scaling up the output of unmanned systems for the US military and its allies.

More about F-Drones

F-Drones develops software, electronics, its own motors, electronic speed controllers and flight controllers.

The company is known for its UAVs F7, F10 and the LITAVR "Shahed" interceptors. 

F-Drones began drone production in 2023. 

Recall that German company ARX Robotics and Ukrainian Roboneers are creating the joint venture ARX Industries to produce ground robotic complexes. The corresponding agreement was signed during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdańsk.

In the company's first year of operation, they plan to produce several thousand units of the ground robotic complex "Рись Pro", and later gradually increase production to tens of thousands per year.

Read also: Ukrainian Unwave received an export permit to test its electronic warfare (EW) system in the Czech Republic. This is the first case in Ukraine

Variety reports this.

The spinoff will be based on Donkey's origin story and development in the film "Shrek".

Who is working on the "Donkey" animated film

For the project, the studios assembled the following team:

• director Charlie Bean (known for his work on "The Lego Ninjago Movie" and the live-action adaptation of "Lady and the Tramp");
• co-director Matt Flinn (worked as a storyboard artist at DreamWorks on projects such as "The Wild Robot", "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" and "The Bad Guys 2");
• producer Rebecca Huntley (produced "Kung Fu Panda 4" and "The Bad Guys").

When the premiere will take place

The release of "Donkey" will take place a year after another major franchise premiere — on June 30, 2028.

In summer 2027 Universal and DreamWorks will release "Shrek 5".

In this installment Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz will once again voice their characters — Shrek, Donkey and Fiona — and Zendaya will join the cast.

Recall that the original film "Shrek" was released in 2000 and became a hit, grossing almost $500 million worldwide and winning the first-ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

The franchise was then continued with three sequels ("Shrek 2" in 2004, "Shrek the Third" in 2007 and "Shrek Forever After" in 2010), as well as two "Puss in Boots" spinoffs. Altogether these films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.

Recall that on June 22 the animated film "Toy Story 5" hit theaters with $160 million in North American box office receipts.

It is the best start of the year in US cinemas and the most successful debut in the history of the "Toy Story" franchise.

Also read: Pre-orders for GTA VI have started: what is known about the game's price, release date and bonuses for players

This reports Space.

The discovery helped scientists better understand how clusters of massive stars in young galaxies during the early stages of the Universe's development affected the ionization of neutral gas.

What is known about the new galaxy

After the Big Bang, space was filled with neutral hydrogen that absorbed ultraviolet radiation and made the Universe opaque.

Only hundreds of millions of years later did this gas begin to ionize, allowing light to travel freely through space.

This period in the history of the Universe is called the epoch of reionization. Scientists have tried to determine what exactly caused this process: supermassive black holes or the first generations of hot stars.

Galaxy MXDFz4.4 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, concept / NASA

Observations of MXDFz4.4 showed that young massive stars played the key role.

«Observing such a galaxy was considered impossible», — said the lead researcher Ilias Huvarts.

According to him, astronomers expected the hydrogen fog would be too dense and completely obscure the source of radiation.

The newly discovered galaxy MXDFz4.4 is roughly 100 times smaller than the Milky Way, yet it forms new stars ten times faster.

At the center of the galaxy is a dense cluster of young, hot stars. They produce a huge amount of ultraviolet radiation that gradually «burned through» the hydrogen fog around the galaxy.

Researchers also found that stars were born not continuously but in short powerful bursts. Each such burst generated a new wave of radiation that cleared an increasingly larger area of the surrounding space.

Scientists plan to search for more similar galaxies to better understand how the epoch of reionization ended and why the Universe became the way we see it today.

Hubble telescope

Read also: NASA is testing a new rover that can move faster and lift its wheels to overcome obstacles

This is stated in the company’s official release.

Pre-orders can be placed starting June 25 local time.

AIN explains what is already known about GTA VI, which platforms it will appear on and what bonuses buyers will receive.

When GTA VI will be released

Initially Rockstar planned to release the game in 2025. The company said this back in December 2023, when it showed the first trailer:

In May 2025 the developers released the second trailer for the game:

However, in November of the same year the studio moved the game’s release date to November 19, 2026. Rockstar explained that the extra time is needed to finish the game "to the level players expect."

What GTA VI will be about

The game’s events unfold in the fictional state of Leonida — a modern version of the US state of Florida. The central location will be the city of Vice City, which last appeared in the series more than 20 years ago.

The main protagonists will be Jason and Lucia.

In the story, they try to pull off an easy heist, but things don’t go according to plan. After that the characters find themselves at the center of a criminal conspiracy that engulfs the entire state of Leonida.

Rockstar calls GTA VI "the biggest and most ambitious evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series."

What’s included in Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition

The developers have prepared a premium Ultimate Edition for players available here.

The feature of this edition is that bonuses and items are not delivered all at once but unlock gradually: a new batch of content becomes available after each completed chapter of the main story of Jason and Lucia.

Exclusive locations in Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition 

Paradise Garage complex and garage. Includes a personal weapons locker and a secure place to store stolen goods before selling them to a fence.

Rideout Customs workshop. A tuning atelier where custom interiors and exteriors are created for cars.

One-Eyed Willie’s workshop. Specializes in off-road modifications and hand-painted body art.

Stock 305 clothing store. A streetwear spot for creating custom looks for the characters.

Sara's Unisex Salon barber shop. Access to signature hairstyles, beard styles for Jason, as well as makeup and look changes for Lucia.

Electric Fang Tattoo parlor. An ink bar in Stockyard offering more than 50 tattoos for both characters.

Vehicles and customization in Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition

’95 Grotti Cheetah sports car — a signature mid-’90s car with a minimalist retro-futuristic look (available in the late stages of the game).

An off-road Vapid Dominator Buggy.

A modification kit Ganado Retro Build to upgrade Jason’s old working pickup, the Vapid Ganado.

Shitzu Squalo motorboat, equipped for open-ocean trips. It includes a crate with weapons and explosives on board.

Jason’s transport: an army-style Dinka Enduro motorcycle and a Crest Kayak.

Weapons and appearance in Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition

A pair of Hawk & Little Morgan revolvers featuring engraving, a panoramic sight and grips engraved with palm trees.

Custom pistol variants with detailed engraving: the Girardi ES9 for Jason and the Klose K17 for Lucia.

Vice City Style clothing and tattoo packs.

The Goodtime Gear clothing and accessories collection inspired by a local character — the alligator Makki.

Pre-order bonuses

All players who pre-order or purchase the game before November 20, 2026 will receive the Vintage Vice City Pack.

This is an exclusive collection of items that takes players back to a time "when neon lights burned the brightest." 

In addition, players who make a digital pre-order will receive one free month of GTA+ subscription.

How much Grand Theft Auto VI costs

As the BBC writes, prices differ by edition: 

• the standard edition of Grand Theft Auto VI will cost $79.99;
• the expanded edition Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition $99.99.

Physical copies of the game will contain a code for a digital download of the game inside the box, not a disc.

More about GTA

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a series of action-adventure video games developed by the American studio Rockstar.

The previous installment, GTA 5, was released in 2013 and sold 195 million copies. Overall, sales of the entire series exceeded 420 million copies as of 2024. The game was praised for its open world and dynamic gameplay.

In spring 2025 the developers released an enhanced PC version of GTA 5 with improved graphics and new features. However, that launch was accompanied by technical issues with data transfer and player complaints about the lack of text chat.

The open world of GTA 5 is also used for training. The Ukrainian company "Вітруган", which makes drones and electronic warfare systems, integrated its own FPV simulator into the game. It allows connecting a real control radio (for example, the Radiomaster TX16S MK3) and flying without limits in a virtual space.

The developers noted that such a tool helps train motor skills and flight techniques, though it does not replace full training.

At the same time, there is legal practice in Ukraine related to this franchise. In 2021 a court in Zhytomyr issued a criminal verdict against a local resident who profited from illegally downloading games. The man "reflashed" PlayStation 3 consoles and installed pirated copies of popular titles on them, among which was GTA 5. 

The court found this to be unauthorized interference with the operation of computer systems and fined the offender. Including procedural costs, he had to pay more than 21 thousand hryvnias.

The official announcement of the new GTA 6 was in November 2023, and the first trailer was shown in December. However, production of the game was for a long time accompanied by data security problems. One of the incidents occurred in September 2022, when a hacker with the nickname teapotuberhacker breached the studio’s systems and leaked source code, an early test build and dozens of raw gameplay recordings online.

Due to regular leaks of information, Rockstar Games’ management in April 2024 required all employees to return from remote work to the offices on a five-day workweek to strengthen security measures during the final stage of development.

Read also: "Are you 18?" Which countries require age verification to play GTA — and why age checks don’t work

The company announced this.

The new app is meant to help creators grow their audience on Facebook and manage content.

What is known about the new app

Creator Studio has received a text-based AI assistant from Meta. This assistant studies a creator's style, performance metrics, audience engagement and goals to provide personalized recommendations.

According to TechCrunch, the new app is currently in testing with a limited group of creators. 

Meta expects this will reduce creators' need to turn to third-party tools like ChatGPT.

What features are available

TechCrunch writes that when opening the app creators will see a feed of daily priorities: an assessment of the latest post's performance, tracking progress toward goals, and flags for comments that require a response.

In addition to analytics, the updated Creator Studio will get the following tools:

• an AI comment-editing feature that will automatically surface the most important follower feedback;
• a tool for automatically generating draft replies that the AI will tailor to the creator's personal tone.

Recall that in early June 2026 a vulnerability in the new AI assistant of Meta's support service allowed attackers to gain control of Instagram accounts, including those protected by two-factor authentication.

Meta introduced an AI assistant for account recovery in December 2025. The service was meant to simplify and speed up the process of regaining access to Facebook and Instagram pages.

However, hackers used this very tool to take over other people's accounts, bypassing even additional security mechanisms.

Read also: Мінцифра contacted Meta over the blocking of Ukrainian businesses' pages. What did the company respond?

What CCA-F Is and Why It Matters

The Claude Certified Architect – Foundations is Anthropic's first-ever official technical certification, launched on March 12, 2026 through the Claude Partner Network. It validates a professional's ability to design, deploy, and maintain production-grade AI systems across the Claude ecosystem — including the Claude API, Claude Agent SDK, Claude Code, and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

The certification is exclusive by design: access to the exam is currently restricted to Anthropic partner companies, meaning the global pool of certified architects remains very small.

Key Facts About the Exam

• Difficulty: among serious candidates, the estimated first-attempt pass rate is 60–75%. For those who studied only from practice tests, it drops to 30–50%
• Access: the exam is closed to the general public — only employees of Claude Partner Network companies can sit it
• Format: 60 questions in 120 minutes. Each question presents a real production scenario where three out of four answer choices appear valid. The exam does not test knowledge — it tests the ability to make sound architectural decisions under pressure. Even experienced Claude users fail if they lack real hands-on experience building agentic systems
• Passing score: 720 out of 1000 on a weighted scoring scale

• Passing score: 720 out of 1000 on a weighted scoring scale

AI Is the New Reality — and We're Here to Lead It

Empat Tech moved beyond talking about AI long ago — we actively use it internally to optimize our own processes: from delivery management and project operations to code review and quality analysis. At the same time, AI has become a core component of the products we build for clients across health tech, fintech, aviation, and automotive.

Demand for AI expertise from the market is growing rapidly. We see it every day — in client requests, in how team requirements are shifting, in how AI is reshaping entire industries. This is not a trend — it is the new reality. And if it is the new reality, the only right position is to be first and best in it. That is why we invest in official Anthropic certification: not to signal intent, but to prove it with facts.

What This Means for Empat Tech's Clients

The certification confirms that Empat Tech has the verified expertise to design and build enterprise-grade AI systems: agentic pipelines, multi-agent architectures, MCP integrations, and production-ready Claude-powered solutions. For clients, this means a certified partner for complex AI projects across health tech, fintech, aviation, and automotive.

Comment from Vladyslav Fedenko Empat Tech:

"This exam isn't about whether you know Claude. It's about whether you can make the right architectural decisions under the pressure of a real production scenario. That's what separates practitioners from theorists in AI development.

He announced this on the social platform X.

In the post, Shazeer wrote that he is joining the OpenAI team.

More on Shazeer’s move from Google to OpenAI

Noam Shazeer noted that the choice was difficult and that he is proud of the Google team and the products they built together.

«The decision to move on was difficult. I am incredibly proud of the amazing Google team and everything we built together. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with all of you», — wrote Shazeer.

The outlet CNBC reports that this departure happened less than two years after his return to Google. 

In August 2024 the company brought Shazeer and his colleague Daniel De Freitas back into its AI unit DeepMind. 

That was part of a partnership deal with the startup Character.AI, which the engineers founded together after their first exit from Google in 2021. They left then because the company declined to actively develop the chatbot project they were advocating.

Shazeer's move to OpenAI comes as the company prepares for an IPO.

More on OpenAI’s IPO plans

On June 9, 2026 OpenAI filed a confidential application for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In the filing, the company said it has not yet decided on the timing of an IPO. It added that there are currently tasks that are easier to accomplish as a private company, but submitting the documents preserves the option to go public more quickly if that becomes appropriate.

The company also plans to hold a tender offer for employees that will allow them to sell part of their shares at the latest company valuation.

According to CNBC, OpenAI's most recent valuation was $852 billion after fundraising.

OpenAI is preparing for the IPO together with investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Read also: US court has finally dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI over alleged theft of trade secrets

The company told AIN.

Of that sum, $6M are direct investments, and the other $5M are secondary (secondaries).

Who invested

Venture funds u.ventures, Toloka.vc and Movens Capital participated in the round.

The funding also included Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom, and other angel investors.

Where the funds will be directed

The company says the received funding will be allocated across three main areas:

1. Expansion of presence and new markets. Currently the company has offices in Houston, Warsaw, Kyiv (covering the markets of the USA, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria) and Baku (covering Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Turkey). New offices are planned in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and also in the Midwest, East Coast and West Coast regions of the USA. They are also preparing to enter the markets of Brazil, Mexico and the Middle East.
2. Team expansion. They plan to increase the share of foreign specialists on staff from the current 10% to 40%.
3. R&D development. They plan to deepen the functionality of AI agents to perform a wider range of operations, including full order management, invoicing and document verification.

More about Cargofy

Cargofy is an AI platform that creates digital workers for logistics companies in Europe, the USA and the Caspian region.

Overall, Cargofy specializes in developing AI agents that integrate into the existing processes of logistics teams without changing their operational structure.

Photo: Cargofy

The company's AI agents can communicate with carriers, process documentation, send reminders and coordinate dispatching 24/7 in multiple languages.

Currently Cargofy works with shippers, carriers and 3PL providers, and its clients include SuuS, Nova Group, Kaspi, Zammler, Metinvest and Vista. 

In 2022 Cargofy raised $2.5M in seed investment from JKR Investment Group and Flyer One Ventures.

Read also: Defense Tech startup Alta Ares raised €50M in investments. The round was led by Air Street Capital

As announced by Brave1.

The program's total budget is €20 mln, which the parties will fund equally.

What the agreement includes

Under the Brave France program, Ukrainian and French defence companies will focus on creating advanced defence solutions. Priority areas have been defined as:

• rocket technologies;
• unmanned systems;
• modern means to counter aerial threats.

At present, the process of forming a joint executive council is underway, and the parties are finalizing the definition of thematic areas and expert groups.

Additionally, the countries have already approved the key parameters of the upcoming competitions:

• the maximum size of a single grant will be €1 mln;
• testing of developed solutions will be carried out via the Test in Ukraine platform, which will allow technologies to be verified and validated in real combat conditions.

The first competition is scheduled to launch in September 2026.

What is known about projects with Lithuania and Germany

On 12 May 2026 the defence ministers of Ukraine and Germany signed a letter announcing the launch of the joint Brave Germany program. 

The initiative is aimed at grant support for Ukrainian and German Defense Tech startups and the joint development of modern weaponry.

The main priorities will be the development of technologies that affect the course of modern warfare:

• unmanned systems and artificial intelligence;
• laser and rocket technologies;
• new solutions in the field of secure communications.

The Ministry of Defence notes that the key idea of the program — is to meet the Ukrainian front's technological needs through innovations from partner countries. 

Additionally, on 2 June Ukraine and Lithuania launched the joint grant program Brave Lithuania.

According to Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, the project was created to support innovation. It will be implemented jointly by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Brave1 cluster. 

The joint work will focus on areas directly needed on the battlefield:

• unmanned systems;
• electronic warfare (EW) systems;
• artificial intelligence;
• communication systems and other military technologies.

Recall that in early May, to exchange experience and support defence startups, Ukraine proposed to Sweden to launch the joint Brave Sweden project based on the Brave1 innovation cluster.

Read also: More than 100 Ukrainian defence companies are training AI on the Brave1 Dataroom platform

According to AIN, the company confirmed the launch.

Warsaw became the second city outside Ukraine after the launch in London in 2022.

More about the launch in Poland

The app operates on a paid subscription model to view property owners' contacts. At the same time, the team opened free access for Ukrainians for three months.

According to bird founder Arseniy Feshchenko, while preparing the Warsaw launch the team studied the Polish rental market and collected user feedback.

Features of the service include a 3D map showing the exact location of properties, search filters, aggregation of listings from various sources, and notifications about new apartments appearing on the market.

According to bird founder Arseniy Feshchenko, the Polish version includes new features that are not yet available in the Ukrainian app, in particular a more detailed display of monumental buildings on the map, the ability to search for housing by commute time to work, and more detailed listing characteristics.

Currently only the iOS version of the app is available to users. Later the team plans to refine the product and release an Android version.

More about bird 

bird — is an internal startup of LUN, launched in 2018.

This app was one of the first in Ukraine to allow property seekers to choose housing options on a 3D map. In addition, the app uses artificial intelligence to recommend apartments, has video room tours, and the ability to filter out apartments with "grandma-style" renovations.

The app is used by residents of five Ukrainian cities (Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv and Kyiv) and the capital of the United Kingdom. 

Also read: “The little bird” that flew around Ukraine and London. How bird works and how it makes money — interview with the founder

Meta announced this.

Against this backdrop the company announced a range of new features for communities and content personalization in the feed.

What updates are planned for Threads

Meta noted that the platform's growth is linked to user communities that come together around different topics — from books and music to sports and parenting.

Therefore one of the main updates was ending the testing phase of the Communities feature. It will now run in full production.

The company also launched new tools for users:

• Communities Hub — a dedicated section for finding and switching between communities;
• Community Icons — icons for individual communities;
• Community Progress — an indicator that shows when a topic is approaching the creation of a standalone community;
• Community Champions — an expansion of the program recognizing active community members;
• Local Communities — localized communities with support for tags in native languages. Users in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan will be the first to receive the feature.

Threads updates / Meta

In the coming weeks the company also plans to expand access to the Live Chats feature for more communities. Among the new additions is the ability to quote individual posts in the feed.

Feed management

Threads also introduced a new tool called Your Algo, which allows users to manage the topics shown in their recommended feed themselves.

With Your Algo users will be able to specify which topics they want to see more or less of, and choose how long that setting should apply — one, three, or seven days.

At launch Your Algo will be available to users in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Recall that in early May 2026 Meta began testing a new AI feature in Threads.

It's about integrating the Meta AI chatbot, which will be able to publicly reply to users' posts and add "context" to them.

Meta launched a separate account @meta.ai that users will be able to interact with directly in Threads either in a regular chat or in comments.

Read also: What is Instagram Map and how to disable showing your geolocation?

This was reported by Imagine Games Network. 

It is the highest price ever paid for a video game at an open auction.

What is known about the lot

The sold copy of Super Mario Bros. had a PSA 9.6 A++ grade from Professional Sports Authenticator and surpassed the previous record of $2 million, set in 2021.

According to the publication, this is the earliest confirmed sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. from the game's second production run, which went on sale in early 1986. The copy was discovered just a few months ago inside an unopened NES Control Deck, where it had sat for nearly 40 years.

This is the first sealed copy from that run to appear at public auction. 

Along with the game, the buyer also received the original NES Control Deck console, in which the Super Mario Bros. copy was found.

More about Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. — a video game developed by Nintendo in 1985 for the NES (Dendy) console.

In the game, the Italian plumber Mario (or his brother Luigi) sets off through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue a princess from the villain Bowser.

Read also: GSC Game World showed a new trailer for the first story expansion for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

This was reported by Reuters.

The judge dismissed the case with prejudice (barring refiling), calling further litigation "futile."

What Musk accuses OpenAI of

The lawsuit alleged unlawful appropriation of confidential information, including source code, when xAI employees moved to work at OpenAI.

Judge Lin had already dismissed an earlier version of the complaint in February, after which xAI filed an amended complaint.

The updated complaint centered on a presentation that former xAI employee Xuechen Li gave during his interview at OpenAI.

According to Musk's company, OpenAI sought to obtain secrets about the release of the Grok 4 model in July 2025, because the ChatGPT update allegedly could not compete in complex logical reasoning, and OpenAI itself lagged in reinforcement-learning and post-training techniques that Li was familiar with.

However, the judge noted that xAI failed to prove that OpenAI induced the former engineer to disclose confidential data about the Grok chatbot or that OpenAI engineers were aware of any potential disclosure.

The judge emphasized that discussing candidates' previous work experience during hiring is routine practice.

What OpenAI says

OpenAI said the lawsuit is just another stage in a campaign of harassment by Musk.

Company lawyers also argued that OpenAI does not need others' secrets, especially from xAI, which, they said, is failing in the market and losing talent.

Additionally, OpenAI asserts that Xuechen Li never worked for them and that xAI's secrets did not come into their possession.

Musk's previous lawsuits against OpenAI

In May 2026, a California court dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman.

A panel of nine jurors unanimously rejected Musk's claims, noting that he had enough information to file suit well before 2024. The verdict came after about two hours of deliberation.

Elon Musk argued that OpenAI had strayed from its original mission — to develop AI for the benefit of humanity — and become a commercial entity.

However, the jurors did not consider the issue on the merits, because they found the lawsuit to be time-barred.

Read also: Sam Altman under Congress scrutiny: the OpenAI CEO's business ties will be reviewed before the IPO

British Prime Minister reported this.

The restrictions will apply to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and Snapchat.

More about the restrictions

According to the British prime minister, a full ban is the right choice that will make children happier and give them back their childhood.

«It will make a huge difference, it will make our children safer, it will make our children happier, it will give them more time, more safety, more freedom to grow up and more opportunities», — said the British prime minister.

At the same time, the ban will not apply to messengers, including WhatsApp and Signal.

According to Reuters, in addition to blocking access to the platforms themselves, the United Kingdom will introduce restrictions on specific harmful features for users under 16, including live streaming and the ability to communicate with strangers.

The UK is also considering introducing a nightly «curfew» for social media use for under-18s. 

What Brits say

Before announcing the decision, the UK government held consultations with teachers, parents and young people about possible restrictions, app curfews, time limits and measures to counter addictive features. 

Reuters writes that more than 83% of parents who took part in the survey believe the risks of social networks outweigh their benefits.

A further 90% of surveyed parents supported setting the minimum age for access to social networks at 16.

Which countries are considering banning social networks for children under 16

On December 10, 2025 Australia became the first country in the world to introduce a ban on access to social networks for children under 16.

The law, which has been called a «global social experiment», came into force, and millions of accounts faced the risk of being blocked.

Teenagers under 16 are now prohibited from having accounts on:

• TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X (Twitter), Reddit.
• YouTube is also subject to the restriction (the main platform), although access to YouTube Kids remains open.

Similar initiatives have previously been studied by the governments of Denmark, Greece, France, Spain, Switzerland and Poland.

Read also: Hackers used Meta's AI assistant to hack Instagram accounts

This is stated on the developers' website. 

The DLC is scheduled for summer 2026. This is the first story expansion for «S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl».

What is known about the story

The expansion's events will unfold around the confrontation between two iconic Zone factions — «Duty» and «Freedom».

The story's main characters will be Zulus, a series veteran from «Duty», and Mavka from «Freedom». They are forced to join forces to uncover new secrets of the Zone amid escalating conflict between the factions.

The plot will again center on Skif — the protagonist of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Players will have to explore new territories, make choices, and determine the future fate of Chornobyl.

Shot from the trailer

The trailer also shows new locations, including the Iron Forest and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

In addition, the expansion will feature familiar places presented in an updated form.

Shot from the trailer

GSC Game World notes that «Cost of Hope» will be the second chapter of the «second S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy».

The developers promise tens of hours of gameplay, new storylines, and exploration of the Zone.

More about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

«S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl» was first announced in 2010.

The game was announced after the release of «Call of Pripyat». The release was planned for 2012. However, it was cancelled a year before that.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was re-announced in 2018. Eventually the release was moved to November 20, 2024.

In March 2026 the game was nominated for the BAFTA Games Awards 2026. 

Also read: There weren’t enough artifacts for everyone. AIN looked into how the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 collaboration with ATB was launched and why the collector almanacs ran out so quickly

This was reported by Reuters.

This happened after SpaceX's initial public offering, which brought the company a record $75 billion.

What were the IPO results

According to the agency's calculations, SpaceX held an initial public offering (IPO) and raised $75 billion.

Before the share sale, Ilon Mask's net worth was estimated at around $780 billion.

According to Reuters, after SpaceX went public, the bulk of Mask's wealth comes from his stake in the company, which is valued at about $866 billion.

Taking into account assets in Tesla and other companies, his total wealth will exceed $1.1 trillion after SpaceX's shares begin trading.

«The second richest person in the world has wealth of approximately $300 billion — that is less than a third of how much Mask could potentially be worth tomorrow. And only one person in history, Oracle founder Larri Ellison, ever reached the $400 billion mark,» — noted Forbes deputy editor-in-chief Mett Durot.

More about SpaceX's IPO

The company has been preparing for an IPO since 2025.

Company revenue is expected to grow from about $15 billion in 2025 to $22–24 billion in 2026.

In March 2026 it became known that SpaceX plans to list its shares on Nasdaq to get into the Nasdaq 100 even before the IPO.

At the end of January 2026 Ilon Mask considered potential merger options for SpaceX with carmaker Tesla or AI startup xAI amid preparations for a large IPO. Investors in the companies promoted this idea.

The argument was that Mask's different businesses could complement each other in the event of a merger. For example, SpaceX plans to put data centers for heavy computing into orbit, which could be an advantage for the development of xAI's artificial intelligence.

In May xAI ceased to exist as a separate organization. Instead it is being transformed into the SpaceXAI direction, which will unite all artificial intelligence products under the SpaceX name. This is happening against the backdrop of the IPO.

In early June it became known that SpaceX plans to set a fixed price for the initial public offering (IPO) at $135 per share and raise roughly $75 billion.

Recall that on June 2 Anthropic filed a confidential submission with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct an initial public offering (IPO).

The confidential filing format allows the company to go through the initial review stage without publicly disclosing financial and operational information.

Read also: Sem Altman under Congress's scrutiny: the OpenAI CEO's business ties will be examined before going public

This is reported by TechCrunch.

At the same time, these expenses are still lower than the average salary of a software engineer.

How AI spending compares to personnel costs

According to the publication, NVIDIA's Vice President of Applied Deep Learning, Brayan Katandzaro, says that compute costs now exceed his employees' salaries.

Also last week the CEO of startup Mercor said the company spends more money on tokens for internal AI agents than on employee salaries.

Against this backdrop, researchers at the Ramp AI Index analyzed the level of AI adoption among American companies and estimated their spending on related services.

More on the study's findings

The top 1% of companies by AI spending spend an average of $7,500 per employee per month.

At the same time, this amount still remains below the average monthly salary of a software engineer, which is around $16,000.

Among companies in the top 10% by AI spending, average costs are $611 per employee per month.

For the other companies included in the study, median spending is only $11.38 per employee — roughly the price of a seat on a corporate plan for AI services.

Despite this, AI spending continues to rise. In the group of highest-spending companies, this metric increased by 14.1% month over month on a per-employee basis.

TechCrunch writes that the highest-spending companies typically use multiple different AI models and platforms simultaneously, combining advanced commercial solutions with cheaper open-source models.

Recall, Anthropic says that AI developers should pre-agree on a mechanism to slow down or temporarily halt the development of AI systems. This would be necessary if they start improving themselves faster than society can control them.

Anthropic warns that the emergence of systems capable of autonomously creating their own improved versions could become one of the most important technological breakthroughs in history.

At the same time, such capability could increase the risk of humans losing control over artificial intelligence.

Read also: “Humanity needs to prepare for a 'new era'.” What the head of Google DeepMind thinks about the new generation of AI?

Bloomberg reports.

The outlet writes that the company is trying to address problems that have accumulated in recent years. Despite multibillion-dollar investments in games, the platform and hardware, Xbox revenues are declining, and console sales and the growth rate of the Game Pass service have slowed.

What is known about layoffs at Xbox

According to Bloomberg, the cuts may begin after Microsoft's fiscal year ends on June 30. The exact number of employees who will be affected is currently unknown.

At the same time, the company plans to significantly reduce spending on marketing and certain areas of activity.

New head of Xbox Asha Sharma, who took over the division in February, told employees that the business is "not in the best shape" and needs a reset.

She said that over the past five years Xbox invested more than $20 billion in content, the platform and subsidizing console production, yet the company's annual revenue over that period has declined by nearly $500 million.

Among other problems, Xbox is cited as facing falling console sales, a lack of major gaming hits, and stagnation of the Game Pass subscription service.

Over the past two years the company has already closed studios, canceled projects and raised prices on its products.

More about Xbox

Xbox — is a gaming brand and ecosystem from Microsoft. 

In April 2026 Microsoft returned the Xbox brand to its gaming division instead of Microsoft Gaming.

The return to the Xbox division is part of a promise by the company's CEO Asha Sharma about a "return of Xbox" strategy. This move is meant to put fans first and correct previous strategic mistakes. 

Additionally, in early May this year the company announced that it will release a limited collection of transparent Series X25 consoles to mark the brand's 25th anniversary. 

Read also: METRO 2039 developers showed the first gameplay trailer and announced the release date

She then announced the launch of the AB3.Tech cluster — a new format of interaction between the military and defense technology manufacturers. 

AIN spoke with AB3.Tech CEO Viktoriia Honcharuk and asked how the cluster will operate, which problems it should solve, and what the team will focus on in 2026.

What the AB3.Tech cluster is

According to Honcharuk, AB3.Tech is a defense technology platform created on the initiative of the Third Army Corps to enable systemic cooperation between military units and developers of defense solutions.

"The cluster is one of AB3.Tech's areas of activity, within which we are creating an institutionalized model of cooperation," says the CEO of the AB3.Tech platform.

She says the cluster will allow manufacturers to work directly with the end users of their solutions — the military — receive feedback, adapt products to combat conditions, and move from testing to scaling technologies.

Why the Third Army Corps needs this cluster

"Our goal is to create a new model of cooperation between the military and the defense industry built around a combat unit and its real needs," says Honcharuk.

She explains that today the interaction between manufacturers and the military often happens informally and is based on ad hoc feedback from individual fighters. 

For example, feedback after testing in Ukraine was received by the British startup Seeing Systems. The company, founded by brothers Alex and Matthew Le Metry, sent its drones to a Ukrainian brigade (we do not disclose the unit's name for security reasons). There were logistical issues, too, which meant the drones arrived in Ukraine later than initially expected.

After receiving them, a brigade representative confirmed to AIN: Seeing Systems' drones were tested, and preliminary feedback is positive.

Read more: "One pilot shouldn't have to operate just one drone." How Seeing Systems — one of the first DefTech graduates of Y Combinator — is testing drones in Ukraine

In contrast, the cluster is intended to make this process structured: manufacturers will gain access to evaluation methodology, analytics, and feedback from specialist operators, while the military will be able to systematically formulate technological requests and influence product development.

She says this will allow companies to adapt solutions to combat conditions faster, and the military to receive technologies developed based on real frontline experience and needs, rather than assumptions.

"AB3.Tech is designed to close this gap. We are building a mechanism for continuous interaction that will allow faster transmission of feedback from the battlefield, shorten product improvement cycles, and accelerate integration of effective technologies into the armed forces," explains Viktoriia.

What the selection criteria for companies entering the cluster are and how many enterprises they plan to involve

For the platform, the determining factor is not the company's size or the product's stage of development, but its potential value to the military.

"First and foremost, we are interested in companies working on solutions to the pressing challenges of the modern battlefield, who are ready for continuous interaction with the military and to take their feedback into account, as well as for continuous adaptation of technologies based on combat experience," Viktoriia says.

She adds that detailed selection criteria and the participation mechanics will be presented together with the launch of the first technology challenge, which is planned for July–August 2026.

"We are not setting strict limits on the number of cluster participants. The scale of involvement will primarily depend on the capacity of the military units, profile teams, and workshops of the Third Army Corps to provide quality interaction, solution testing, and feedback to manufacturers," says Honcharuk.

What AB3.Tech's plans are for 2026

In 2026 the team plans to develop a full-fledged ecosystem of defense technologies around the Third Army Corps. One of the key elements of this ecosystem will be the AB3.Tech cluster. The platform will announce other ecosystem projects gradually as they launch. According to Honcharuk, the platform's operating model is similar in logic to the American DIU?DIU (Defense Innovation Unit) — is a defense innovation unit of the U.S. Department of Defense created to accelerate the adoption of commercial technologies in the military sphere., but adapted to the realities of full-scale war in Ukraine.

"Among our priorities is launching a system of technology challenges built around the most pressing challenges of the modern battlefield. The first challenge will be presented during a public AB3.Tech event in summer 2026," adds the platform's CEO.

She also names the following as key directions of work:

• expanding the partnership network with defense technology manufacturers;
• developing mechanisms for testing, collecting feedback, and integrating solutions into units;
• scaling innovations already being created within the Third Army Corps;
• attracting investors, state support programs, and international partners to develop the ecosystem.

At the end of May AIN spoke with the CEO and founder of Codective, Anton Herasymenko. He said the company is working on a new high-speed interceptor drone. The project has been in development for about half a year so far.

Also read: For a check up to $200,000 Angel One usually takes a 2–5% stake in a business. Quick interview with the managing partner of the fund, Ivan Petrenko

This was reported by TecnCrunch.

The company plans to use its solution to track the use of its artists' works and songwriters' compositions in AI services.

More about the deal between WMG and Sureel AI

Warner Music said the acquisition is intended to strengthen the company's capabilities in protecting, controlling, and monetizing intellectual property.

In particular, Sureel's technology will help track the use of musical works, artists' voices, their likenesses, and creative styles in content created with artificial intelligence or used to train AI.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sureel will continue to operate as a separate platform and provide services to participants in the music industry and companies working with AI technologies.

More about Sureel AI

Sureel AI was founded in 2022. The company developed a patented technology that creates the so-called "AI-DNA" of musical works and decomposes them into individual components, allowing tracking of the use of these elements in the operation and training of AI models.

In addition to music attribution tools, Sureel AI offers solutions for IP compliance auditing and control, AI model optimization, and business analytics.

The company has also developed a set of tools to track the use of voices, appearance, and stage personas of performers during AI model training and content generation. This covers voice clones, digital avatars, and reproduction of artists' creative styles.

Read also: Remixes on demand. The largest music labels UMG, Sony and Warner signed a deal with AI startup Klay

This was announced by Anthropic.

The new models can operate autonomously for longer than previous Claude versions. 

Technical capabilities 

According to Anthropic, Claude Fable 5 is the company’s most powerful model among those available for general use.

The model showed strong performance in programming, data work, document analysis and scientific research.

However, Fable 5 will not fulfill certain requests in cybersecurity, biology, chemistry, and model distillation.

If the classifier detects a potential threat, the request will be automatically routed to the less powerful Claude Opus 4.8 model. 

The company also introduced Claude Mythos 5 — a model on the same architecture but without some of the cybersecurity restrictions.

Initially it will be available through the Project Glasswing program, implemented in partnership with the U.S. government and organizations working in cyber defense.

Anthropic plans to expand access to Mythos 5 later through a trusted access program.

How Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 were tested

Anthropic says Fable 5 and Mythos 5 demonstrate improved results in software development, performing complex analytical tasks, image processing and handling large amounts of context. 

Mythos 5 was also used in drug discovery research, protein design and genomics.

During testing by Stripe, the Fable 5 model performed a migration in a Ruby codebase of 50 million lines in one day — a task that would have taken the engineering team over two months. 

On the Hebbia financial benchmark, the model showed the best performance in document reasoning and interpretation of charts and tables.

The model also independently completed the game Pokemon FireRed with a minimal visual interface.

Security measures

The company is instituting mandatory 30-day retention of interaction data with models of this level.

Anthropic says this data will be used to detect new security threats and attempts to bypass protective mechanisms.

Subscription cost for the new models

Claude Fable 5 is available on the Claude API platform and in Enterprise corporate plans. For users on Pro, Max, Team and standard Enterprise subscriptions, access is free until June 22.

From June 23, using the model on these plans will require purchasing additional credits until the company expands infrastructure capacity to return Fable 5 to the base subscriptions.

The cost of using Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 is $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens.

More about Mythos

Mythos is positioned as one of the most «advanced» models in programming and «agent» AI — that is, one capable of autonomously performing complex tasks.

It can find vulnerabilities in cybersecurity and potentially create or improve cyberattacks.

The Mythos model is also used by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), despite the Pentagon earlier including the company on a list of risky suppliers.

Read also: Anthropic plans to open access to Mythos-level models, but will first improve their security

Most of what was presented will be available to users later this year.

AIN reports on the new features Apple unveiled at WWDC 2026.

Apple introduced Siri AI, a new version of its AI assistant

Apple introduced Siri AI — a completely redesigned version of its digital assistant powered by the next generation of the Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence system.

The new Siri can understand a user's personal context, has on‑screen awareness, expanded multimodal capabilities and deep integration across the company's operating systems.

Siri AI is built around interacting with the user's context. That enables it to hold natural conversations and search for information across many apps at once: Messages, Mail, and the Photos library.

For example, you can ask the assistant to find a hotel confirmation number in an old email or pull a restaurant recommendation from a chat.

Updated Siri appearance / Apple

Thanks to on‑screen awareness, Siri understands what’s happening on the display. For instance, after receiving a text about a party, a user can work with Siri to pick a recipe to make and automatically save it to "Notes".

Siri makes notes and saves them to Notes on its own / Apple

On iPhone, users can invoke Siri AI via the side button, the phrase Hey Siri, or by swiping down from the Dynamic Island for an expanded response. On iPad and Mac, the assistant is integrated into Spotlight and the contextual menu.

Siri in the contextual menu / Apple

On Apple Vision Pro the assistant received a three‑dimensional visualization that can be placed anywhere in the room, and it can be summoned with a glance and the start of speech.

3D visualization of Siri / Apple

The company also has created a separate namesake Siri app. It uses iCloud to privately sync the entire conversation history, allowing you to start a text or voice chat on a Mac and continue it on an iPhone or Apple Watch.

Appearance of the Siri app / Apple

Additionally, Siri capabilities are now integrated directly into the Camera app on iPhone via a special "Siri mode."

Users can photograph an object in front of them to split a bill with friends via Apple Cash or get nutritional information about the food on a plate.

Integration of Siri into the Camera app / Apple

The Visual Intelligence technology also becomes available on other devices in the ecosystem for the first time:

• On iPad. The feature is built into the screenshot creation tool.
• On Mac. It’s invoked with a key combination, allowing you to select any area of the screen and ask Siri questions about it in text.
• On Apple Vision Pro. It lets you ask about objects around you or the contents of open app windows simply by looking at them.

Developer testing of the features starts today, June 8, through the Apple Developer Program as part of the first betas of the new operating systems: iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 and visionOS 27.

A public beta for users will be released later this year.

At the same time, in the European Union Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro users will get access to Siri AI immediately (when selecting a supported language).

However, on iPhone and iPad (in iOS and iPadOS) the feature will not be available at launch due to legal disagreements. Apple says it is seeking a compromise that preserves security.

Image generation and AI task automation. Apple updated Apple Intelligence

Apple also unveiled the next generation of its artificial intelligence system, Apple Intelligence.

The updated AI architecture is integrated across the company’s operating systems and will bring new editing tools to Photos, intelligent tab organization in Safari, realistic image generation in Image Playground and the ability to automatically create complex commands from a voice or text description. 

The Photos app received updated image processing models. Any photo altered or generated using Apple Intelligence will now be automatically marked with a hidden digital SynthID watermark — for identifying AI usage.

Among the new editing tools:

Spatial Reframing. This feature is based on spatial models from Apple Vision Pro. It lets a user press and drag an object in a photo to change the perspective of the shot as if the camera physically shifted while taking the photo.

Extend. A tool for painting out the edges of an image. It allows you to straighten a tilted horizon or change the aspect ratio of a photo without cropping important details.

Clean Up. The object-removal tool received updated algorithms for more precise and realistic background filling in complex shots.

Apple Intelligence also transforms browsing, system security settings and automation workflows.

For example, the Passwords app can now automatically fix weak or compromised user passwords. The AI agent will autonomously visit the relevant site, log in and replace a compromised password with a strong one.

Update to the Passwords app, which will now improve passwords on its own / Apple

Safari automatically groups large numbers of open tabs by topic (for example, gathering all sites for planning a trip into one group).

Grouping tabs in Safari / Apple

The new Notify Me feature lets you ask Safari to monitor a specific webpage for updates (for example, when an item comes back in stock or a price drops) and send a push notification if something changes.

Notifications for changes on a chosen tab in Safari / Apple

The Home app will also be updated. It now consolidates multiple related sensor alerts into a single activity status.

Cameras that support HomeKit Secure Video will gain text descriptions of video clips (for example, the system might display the banner "Petro arrived home with a bag of groceries"), as well as text search across the recorded archive.

Home app updates / Apple

Accessibility tools were updated for people with disabilities:

• VoiceOver provides more detailed descriptions of surroundings and images (works via the Action button on iPhone);
• in Voice Control you can now interact with the interface by describing buttons in your own words instead of using color markers or numbers;
• Accessibility Reader can now create short summaries and translations of texts on demand.

Developer testing of Apple Intelligence, like the rest of the updates, also begins on June 8, and an open public beta will be released next month. The official release will take place in fall 2026 as part of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27.

AI is supported on iPhone 16 and newer models, iPhone 15 Pro/Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), iPad and Macs with M1 or newer chips, MacBook Neo (A18 Pro) laptops, Apple Vision Pro headset, and Apple Watch Series 10 / Ultra 2 (or newer watches) when connected to a compatible iPhone.

Due to high server load for some features, including image generation, daily usage limits have been set. Expanded access to limits will be provided as part of most iCloud+ subscription plans.

Apple expands App Store capabilities. What’s new

Apple announced expansions to the App Store platform. They will give developers new tools for marketing, user acquisition and app monetization. 

This year developers will be able to upload Creative Assets — images and videos for product page headers and search results. The company says this is meant to better showcase seasonal offers or new content.

To optimize work in App Store Connect, a number of tools will appear:

• Asset Library. A single library to manage all promo materials, screenshots and videos. Developers will be able to reuse files without duplicate uploads.
• Submit marketing materials for App Review separately from releasing technical app updates.
• Personalized Collections & App Notes. AI recommendations based on user interests and editorial notes explaining why an app is worth downloading. The feature launches in English in the U.S. first.
• Featuring Nominations. A tool in the Apple Games app where game creators can pitch promotions or discount plans to the App Store editorial team for featuring.

Additionally, with an update to the StoreKit 2 framework Apple is introducing new monetization types for In‑App purchases. Volume purchasing will be available through Apple Business and Apple School Manager.

This will allow enterprise and education customers to buy subscriptions in bulk and distribute seats through existing device management IT systems. This option will be available in fall 2026.

In winter the company will launch group subscriptions. Any user or organization will be able to purchase a package of seats with a single payment and send invites to others through built‑in Apple tools. Each group member will join with their own account.

Apple is also simplifying the moderation process: developers can now combine multiple in‑app purchases and related items into a single unified submission for App Review.

Possibly the biggest news for the Mac ecosystem is that apps and games in the Mac App Store will no longer be required to include mandatory support for Intel processors.

Developers can build and release binaries exclusively for Apple silicon chips without spending resources on supporting multiple separate builds.

New child safety features in iOS 27 and macOS 27

Apple outlined a new suite of parental control tools developed based on recommendations from health and online safety experts. 

The updates, which will arrive in the fall releases of the operating systems, are intended to simplify content management and help form healthy digital habits.

Creating a child account will be the first step to activating age restrictions in the App Store and Safari. Such an account is mandatory for children under 13 and can remain active until they turn 18.

Parents also receive tools to moderate their child’s contact list in Messages, FaceTime and Phone — any addition of a new friend will require approval.

The Communication Safety feature, which automatically blurs images of nudity and is enabled by default for users under 18, has been updated.

The system will recognize and block the display of graphic scenes and violent content in sent photos and videos.

The Screen Time app received a new interface that lets parents see average device usage and a list of the child’s top apps at a glance.

Parents can block network access with a single tap during family meals or walks, or conversely — quickly extend an app’s usage time if a child needs to finish something.

Updated Screen Time interface / Apple 

Other parental control tools highlighted by the company include:

• Screen Time Passcode Notifications. Notifications to parents if a Screen Time passcode was entered on the child’s device.
• Apple Watch For Your Kids. A setup feature for smartwatches for children who don’t have their own iPhone.

All new features will become available after the Screen Time update ships as part of the upcoming iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 releases.

Will there be no new features in the European Union?

All of the company’s new features require updating the system to the new versions. We’re talking about iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27.

However Apple announced that due to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) the new Siri AI will not appear in the EU at the same time as the new operating systems’ release.

According to the company, European regulators rejected all of Apple’s proposed technical compromises that would have allowed safe operation of third‑party voice assistants.

Siri AI uses local processing and a Private Cloud Compute architecture to protect personal data.

However, Apple says the current interpretation of the DMA by European regulators requires the company to provide any third‑party virtual assistants and AI systems with similarly direct access to users’ sensitive data.

As the U.S. developer explains, the European Commission insists that under the DMA third‑party AIs must be granted:

• near‑unrestricted access to the file system and device contents;
• the ability to act autonomously without continuous visual supervision and confirmation from the user;
• the capability to read and send messages, make purchases and perform actions in any third‑party apps on their own.

Apple emphasized that such requirements could be dangerous because modern AI systems can be hacked without the device owner’s knowledge.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said that due to difficulties in dialogue with European regulators the company has no timing or chronological plan for launching Siri AI on iOS and iPadOS within the European Union.

Meanwhile, remember that the company plans to announce iOS 27 in September 2026. 

Read also: Quantum processor, new devices and AI models. Six updates from Microsoft Build 2026

The company told AIN.

The company is also preparing to expand into new European markets and to launch additional product lines.

More about Ayla's financial performance

In 2025 the company's net revenue exceeded €500k.

The average order value over the last few years rose from €19.4 to almost €47.3. Approximately 80% of sales come from the B2B segment, including pet stores, distributors and the veterinary market. The remaining 20% is made up of direct-to-consumer sales.

Since its launch Ayla has sold more than 300,000 units. That's roughly 9 tonnes of finished freeze-dried product and about 40 tonnes of fresh meat.

More about the company's plans

The next stage of Ayla's development will be international expansion.

The company already operates in the markets of Germany, Sweden, France and Ireland, and has signed partnership agreements in Greece.

In addition, Ayla has established a partnership in Dubai, which should help it enter the United Arab Emirates market.

At the same time the company is expanding its product portfolio. New directions include red-meat-based products for dogs and cats, as well as food for small mammals, including rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs. 

More about Ayla

The Ayla brand arose from the personal need of the founders — Savrina and Mirek Vos.

Their Irish setter had health problems and refused to eat. This prompted the owners to look for an easily digestible, natural product, which led them to freeze-drying technology.

Irish setter dog / Photo Ayla

To date the company produces three product lines: Delight, Help and Rescue. They include freeze-dried products for dogs and cats, as well as products for animals recovering from illness or with special dietary needs.

Also read: A dog bakery and a grooming salon didn’t split a space in Kyiv — we looked into what’s behind the viral TikTok video

This was reported by CNBC.

The company said it has not yet made a final decision on timing for going public.

More on OpenAI's IPO plans

In a statement the company said it has not yet settled on IPO timing. It added that there are currently projects that are easier to carry out as a private company, but filing the documents preserves the option to go public more quickly if it makes sense.

The company also plans to hold a tender offer for employees that will allow them to sell some shares at the company's latest valuation.

According to CNBC, OpenAI's most recent valuation was $852 billion after fundraising.

OpenAI is working on IPO preparations with investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

What is known about OpenAI's competitors

CNBC writes that among OpenAI's main competitors are Anthropic, Google and SpaceX, which earlier this year combined with Elon Musk's xAI startup.

In April 2026, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX filed a confidential application for an IPO. It could become the largest IPO in history: the company plans to raise about $75 billion from share sales and is aiming for a $1.75 trillion valuation.

In early June 2026 Anthropic also announced a confidential filing for an IPO. The New York Times reports that a public listing could take place this fall. Shortly before that the company raised a new round of funding, after which its valuation reached $965 billion.

Despite the possible listings of OpenAI and Anthropic in 2026, Perplexity maintains its plans to IPO in 2028.

"Despite those two companies, we had planned something for 2028, so that remains relevant," said Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas.

Also read: Sem Altman under Congress' scrutiny: the OpenAI CEO's business ties will be examined ahead of the IPO

The company announced this.

The funds will be used to scale production, develop products, expand engineering and operations teams, and for international expansion. 

What are Alta Ares' plans 

To sustain its growth pace, the company plans to open new offices in the Middle East and Asia, and to expand its engineering and operations teams through new hires by the end of the year.

Simultaneously, it plans to strengthen manufacturing capacity at industrial facilities in Toulouse (France) and in Ukraine.

What is known about Alta Ares

Alta Ares — is a Defense Tech company specializing in air defense systems and autonomous systems. It was founded in 2024. 

Alta Ares positions itself as a "provider of capabilities", offering a unified architecture with automated AI-based detection, tracking and interception of targets. 

The company is currently developing and deploying two classes of unmanned interceptors adapted to operate in both Arctic and desert conditions:

• X-Lock — designed to counter threats like the Shahed-136, has a short range (15 km);
• Black Bird — designed for high-speed targets, including Kh-101 cruise missiles and guided FAB-500 aerial bombs, has a medium range (30 km).

The company's products are simultaneously deployed in three active conflict zones. 

More about the investors

• Air Street Capital is a venture fund that invests in AI-first companies in the US and Europe.
• Cherry Ventures — a European early-stage venture fund that has invested in over 130 companies.
• Harpoon Ventures — a US early-stage fund specializing in Deep Tech to support the technological dominance of the US and its allies.
• OTB Ventures — a pan-European fund that focuses on dual-use technologies, space technologies and robotics.

Read also: Toloka.vc invested in the financial group Tonik

This was reported by Reuters.

The carrier will become the first European ultra-low-cost carrier to offer such a service to passengers.

More about the Wizz Air and Starlink deal

Wizz Air said that Starlink internet from SpaceX will be available across the airline's entire fleet. The parties are not disclosing details of the agreement.

Wizz Air's announcement came against the backdrop of SpaceX, Starlink's parent company, going public.

According to Reuters, other budget carriers, including Ryanair and EasyJet, had previously said that installing Starlink on board is associated with significant costs. In particular, Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary estimated that using this equipment would cost his company up to $250 million a year, taking into account additional fuel costs.

Currently, Starlink already partners with a number of US airlines, including American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

The company also has partnerships with long-haul carriers, including Singapore Airlines and Emirates.

More on Wizz Air's return to Ukraine

In March 2026, on Instagram, Wizz Air launched a marketing campaign with the message "Ukraine, we're coming home".

The link in that announcement led to an application form to participate in an information session for pilots about Ukraine.

Later the company commented on its statement about "returning to Ukraine", explaining that it related to a recruitment marketing campaign.

Wizz Air said that its social media message about "returning to Ukraine" was part of a recruitment campaign and promotion of career opportunities for Ukrainians. 

At the same time, they stressed that they did not in any way intend to create the impression that flights were being resumed.

What is known about Wizz Air

Wizz Air — is a Hungarian low-cost airline founded in 2003.

It specializes in air travel primarily within Europe, and also operates flights to the Middle East and, on certain routes, to Asia.

More on the resumption of air travel in Ukraine

On March 17, 2026, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine created a working group to prepare for the resumption of operations at Ukrainian airports. 

The group will operate as an advisory consultative body to the Ministry of Development.

It will develop proposals for restoring civil aviation flights after the airspace is opened.

Recall that in March 2025 Tetiana Romanovska, CEO of Lviv airport, said that it could be opened for flights "in the optimistic scenario" in April–May, or otherwise in summer 2025. 

Subsequently, the press service of Lviv Airport reported that the resumption of flights in Ukraine is not expected in the near future, as the security factor still remains key.

Read also: Emirates has started using AI to forecast turbulence

This is reported on 4A Games' official website.

The new trailer was the first demonstration of gameplay for the upcoming shooter. The video showed for the first time the main antagonist Hunter, new locations, weapons and gameplay elements.

What the trailer showed

The trailer runs for almost three minutes and is made entirely of footage rendered in the game engine.

The central figure of the new video is Hunter — a former Spartan who now leads the Novoreich and serves as the game's main antagonist.

In the trailer he is shown in a new outfit styled after the armor of the Order "Sparta".

The trailer also shows new ways to interact with the environment and use the surroundings during playthroughs.

The trailer also includes:

• new locations in post-apocalyptic Moscow and the metro;
• irradiated urban areas and dangerous wild territories;
• settlements on metro stations;
• new mutants;
• the new weapon "Shatun";
• elements of survival, stealth and world exploration.

When METRO 2039 releases

METRO 2039 will be released on Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store in February 2027.

Metro 2039 story

The events of Metro 2039 take place in the Moscow metro after a nuclear apocalypse, where the surviving people try to survive in a devastated world.

The main protagonist of the new installment will be the Stranger. According to the plot, he is haunted by nightmares and must return to the metro — a place he swore never to return to.

Developers explain that this decision will allow players to better understand the character's thoughts and internal struggle.

METRO 2039 will also introduce a new antagonistic force — the Novoreich, led by a leader known as the Führer-Hunter.

This faction seeks to absorb the metro and subject it to its will, but the main hero stands in their way. 

Among the game's key elements, the developers will retain claustrophobic spaces, a gloomy atmosphere and detailed worldbuilding.

Developers note that the series' themes remain unchanged, but in the new installment they are presented more distinctly.

Read also: The developers of The Witcher announced a new expansion The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past

This was reported to AIN by Toloka.vc.

Toloka.vc's investment was part of a financing round for Tonik ahead of its Series C fundraising. 

More about the investment

According to Toloka.vc general partner Oleksandr Kolb, the syndicate's investment thesis rests on four factors:

• the presence of a large and structurally underserved market in the Philippines;
• a resilient business model with high margins thanks to a banking license that non-bank fintech companies cannot replicate;
• having passed the riskiest stage of development and reached operational scale — in Q1 2026 the group achieved cash-flow breakeven;
• a strong roster of current investors, including the Japanese banking group Mizuho Bank and venture firm Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia).

«The combination of rapid balance growth, a full banking license, a highly profitable core product and a clear path to realizing the investment through a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange forms our expected target return in the range of 25-50% per annum over a three-year horizon,» — said Oleksandr Kolb, general partner of Toloka.VC.

More about Tonik Financial Pte. Ltd.

Tonik Financial Pte. Ltd. — is a Singapore holding company that owns and operates Tonik — the first digital bank (neobank) in Southeast Asia. The bank officially operates and is licensed in the Philippines.

In addition to the digital bank, which is the main operating asset, the Tonik group includes:

• separate sales and distribution units;
• an agency network;
• the group's technology and engineering center.

Tonik Digital Bank's business model is based on attracting low-cost retail deposits enabled by a full banking license and directing them into high-yield consumer lending.

About Toloka.vc's co-founders

Oleksandr Kolb — an entrepreneur, founder and head of the marketing company Promodo. One of the initiators of the creation of the Kharkiv IT Cluster, where he served on the supervisory board. He also served on the supervisory board of the Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics.

Taras Kyrychenko until 2019 headed «Правекс-Банк», which was founded by Leonid Chernovetskyi. He also served on the supervisory board of the state «Ощадбанк». In September 2021 he joined the supervisory board of the company «Нова пошта».

Ihor Shoifot — a venture investor, partner at the fund TMT Investments. He was born in Russia and later moved to the United States. In an interview with Forbes he said he holds only American citizenship and allegedly never possessed a Russian passport.

Together with Volodymyr Hidirim from Romania and Serhii Mosunov from Russia, he became a co-founder of the investment group The Garage Syndicate.

Recall that in December 2025 a consortium of investors led by the Ukrainian company Diligent Capital Partners (DCP) invested $12 million in the Philippine neobank Tonik.

Read also: In Norway they created Gardar — a €80 mln fund to invest in Ukrainian defense startups

The Financial Times reports.

The company aims to transform the chatbot into a multifunctional "superapp" ahead of a possible IPO.

More on the reorganization and interface update

The changes are part of a broader reorganization at OpenAI. According to the FT, the company is reallocating resources with a focus on corporate customers and is intensifying competition with Anthropic.

One key area will be the development of Codex. The outlet says this service will receive more resources and become a more prominent part of the ChatGPT ecosystem.

OpenAI also plans to update the service interface. New features and prompts will appear to guide users to programming tools, image-generation capabilities, and partner services, including Canva and Booking.com.

The updates are expected to begin rolling out within the next few weeks. They will appear first in the ChatGPT web version and mobile apps.

OpenAI's financial figures

About 40% of OpenAI's revenues are currently generated by 2 million corporate customers.

The company expects the corporate sector's share of revenue to rise to 50% by the end of the year.

OpenAI and the IPO

OpenAI is preparing for one of the largest IPOs in the history of the technology sector. The company's private-market valuation already reaches roughly $850 billion, which would automatically include it in stock indexes and investment fund portfolios.

In May in the US, Republicans in Congress and several state attorneys general stepped up political pressure on OpenAI's CEO, Sem Altman, ahead of a possible IPO.

The probes concern a potential conflict of interest — in particular, whether Altman used OpenAI to support companies he personally invested in.

Recall that OpenAI opened a vacancy for an AI safety researcher with a salary from $295,000 to $445,000 per year.

The new specialist is expected to help the company prepare for the emergence of AI systems capable of improving their own models autonomously.

Read also: OpenAI may sue Apple over ChatGPT. What did the companies disagree about?

The company announced this.

It will include a special version of the Xbox Series X console and an Xbox Wireless Controller styled after the first-generation Xbox.

Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition console

For this generation of devices, the company used a semi-transparent green case design.

The Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition model has the same technical specifications as the original Xbox Series X, including a 1 TB storage drive.

When the console is powered on, the signature "X" logo lights up in green, a nod to the launch of the first-generation Xbox.

Photo: Xbox

The front panel of the device features the brand's 25th anniversary logo, and the case design hides several surprise elements for fans.

Xbox Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition

The special version of the wireless controller is also made in semi-transparent green. The gamepad's appearance includes elements referencing the brand's early devices:

• colored ABXY button styling;
• the top bumpers are styled like the classic black and white buttons of the first controller, known as the "Duke";
• the back of the housing and the battery cover are also transparent.

Photo: Xbox

Sales of the anniversary collection will begin in November 2026 in select markets.

The console and controller can be purchased as a bundle, and the Xbox Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition will also be sold separately. 

Recall that in April 2026 Microsoft reinstated the Xbox brand for its gaming division instead of Microsoft Gaming.

The return to the Xbox division is part of CEO Asha Sharma's promise regarding the "return of Xbox" strategy. This move is intended to put fans first and correct previous strategic mistakes. 

Read also: Quantum processor, new devices and AI models. Six updates from the Microsoft Build 2026 conference 

This is reported by TechCrunch. 

Their goal is to reach people capable of providing non-public information that could benefit Beijing.

More on the attackers' methods and goals

According to the publication, agents of Chinese intelligence pose as online recruiters or representatives of staffing agencies who allegedly work on behalf of companies registered outside of China.

The purpose of such contacts is to obtain non-public information that could be useful to Beijing.

The warning states that Chinese military and intelligence structures seek to acquire military, political and economic information that could give China a strategic and tactical advantage over the countries of the Five Eyes alliance, which include the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Which employees interest China

Among the main targets of such operations are military personnel, individuals with security clearances, as well as journalists, researchers and think-tank staff who have access to non-public or specialized data.

Resumes and professional information posted on job platforms are used to select potential sources.

Even non-classified information can be valuable to intelligence if combined with other data to support decision-making or policy formation.

What LinkedIn says

In response to a request from TechCrunch, a LinkedIn representative said that creating fake accounts or using false information about a person violates the service's rules.

The company added that it continues to detect and block accounts linked to state actors that abuse the platform.

Recall that at the end of May the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service conducted searches at two of the country's data centers and seized 800 servers from hosting companies WorkTitans and MIRhosting.

The confiscated web equipment was used by Russian hackers to organize cyberattacks on government institutions and the banking sector in Europe.

Also read: Cybersecurity for servicemembers. Are the Armed Forces of Ukraine protected and how have Russian cyberattacks changed